Being Present for the Presents

This picture made me laugh.  This is a clever yet poignant statement about the way we often operate in our everyday family life.  This family isn’t putting on a fake front, even for the ubiquitous happy holidays happy family photo.  This picture made me think about being fully present in the moment.  It is true that we can be so preoccupied and distracted that we miss our own lives.  We can even miss the times that are supposed to be the happiest, most memorable times!  “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why
Read More →

December 2, 2011 | by
Categories: Family, Holidays, and Transitions / Change.
Tags: anxiety, books, christmas, depression, Family, Holidays, and Stress.

Coping with Change

Stress often comes in the form of change to our lives.  Therefore, it is very important that we learn how to “get a handle” on change so that we can roll with it rather than be rolled over by it. Stress can literally run you over!  Did you know that researchers are finding out that emotional stress is associated with increases in heart disease as well as other stress-related illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and fibromyalgia? Life can and will change in unexpected ways.  About the time you are getting used to a routine and feel you are
Read More →

April 18, 2009 | by
Categories: Stress and Transitions / Change.
Tags: albert ellis, change, relationships, research, routine, Stress, and time.

Traits of Healthy Families – Part 3

This is the third installment of a series exploring 15 traits of healthy families, identified by Dolores Curran as important to family success. This month’s column will look at traits six through eight, which state that healthy families; 6) are playful and have a sense of humor, 7) have a balance of interaction among family members, and 8) share leisure time.  These three traits discuss important ways in which healthy families share and participate in each other’s lives.  As I write these columns on the traits of healthy families, I am struck again with the truth of how important these
Read More →

May 9, 2007 | by
Categories: Family.
Tags: activities, Family, happiness, leisure, play, and Stress.

Traits of Healthy Families – Part 1

The summer season is entering its final stretch now.  Families will be trying to squeeze a few more valuable vacations in before school starts.  Sometimes August feels like “the calm before the storm” because the new school year often hits like a strong wind that scatters the children and blows apart the parents’ schedules.  I want to encourage you to take what time is left this summer to shore up your family relationships and overall functioning.  Now is the best time to change and improve things in your family, before the frenetic pace of school begins.  Rather than worry about
Read More →

May 3, 2007 | by
Categories: Family.
Tags: Children, communication, conversation, Family, Holidays, listening, Stress, and tv.

Parents Unite! Take Back Christmas!

With the end of Thanksgiving, the “Holiday Season” is in full swing.  In addition to the everyday grind, there is all this extra stuff to do to get ready for the holidays: shopping, baking, planning reunions, planning parties, wrapping, decorating, putting Christmas trees in stands, getting hunters out of tree stands, and numerous other tasks.  Why do we put ourselves through this every year?  The Scrooges and Grinches of the world see it as a waste of time, all this pointless effort for one frenzied day of consumerism.  Those who love Christmastime hold this time as a special time of
Read More →

December 2, 2006 | by
Categories: Family and Holidays.
Tags: christmas, Holidays, presents, Stress, and time.