Many families often experience a great deal of stress during the holidays, due to the family addict. Addiction is a terrible disease that affects everyone. Most addicts who even acknowledge the fact that they have a problem think that it is their problem only, and affects no one else. The simple truth is that addiction does affect others. In fact, it affects every family member, friend and associate of that person.
If your family has an addict to deal with this holiday season, don’t let him ruin your family time together. Here are some ideas to help you deal with this situation:
·Lay down some ground rules. If your family addict is still suffering with an addiction, before inviting them to join the family, lay down some clear ground rules. Make it clear that you do not want any added drama brought to the family table.
·Be firm. Addicts can cause a great deal of negative emotions to be stirred. Be clear and be firm in what you expect from them this holiday.
·Offer the olive branch for a day. Even though it might be extremely difficult, try to forgive and forget, if only for a day. Embrace your addict with open arms and love her, if only for one day.
This baby is too funny. Watch as he gives the “evil eye” on cue when prompted. The funny part is when he laughs when he does it. He knows he is doing something funny. I wonder how he will feel about this video once he’s older.
Christmas is the one holiday that every child looks forward to. It is such a fun time for any child. It is important to take time to make the holidays special for your children every year. I have some quick tips on how to do that this year:
Go Caroling-Gather a group of family and friends and walk through your neighborhood and sing Christmas carols. Your children will absolutely love it!
Have a Hayride-Next to caroling, hay rides are becoming scarce as well. Why not hitch up the trailer, throw on some bundles of hay, and have fun riding through town caroling.
Read a Favorite Christmas Story Together-Children love books. Even more so, they love for their parents to read to them. Choose a favorite Christmas book, settle down by the fireplace or Christmas tree and read the book together as a family.
Watch Christmas Movies Together-Not all children enjoy reading, so if yours doesn’t, then choose a nice holiday movie to watch together instead. Pop some corn, make some hot chocolate and snuggle together to watch a movie.
Cook Christmas Dinner Together-All kids love hanging out and helping in the kitchen. Plan an entire dinner around the family cooking together.
Spending time with your children is important. During the holidays, these special memories you are creating will stay with them for a lifetime. Make every moment count and make treasured memories this holiday season.
Christmas is coming. For many that means family get-togethers. But not all family gatherings are fun. Many are stressful because of the holiday know-it-all. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. There aren’t many families without one.
The holiday know-it-all always has an answer for everything. She usually talks over others and interrupts others, rather than waiting her turn to speak. She has an opinion about everything and expresses it quite loudly, whether everyone wants to hear it or not.
If you have suffered through years of miserable family gatherings because of a holiday know-it-all, here are some tips to help you deal with it better this year:
·Ignore him. You’re probably thinking, ‘Easier said than done!’ You can ignore him though. Rather than meeting his statements with a rebuttal, simply smile and say nothing.
·Walk away. Some confrontations by know-it-alls are best dealt with by just walking away from them. Don’t storm off in anger, but walk away with your head held high and leave her wondering.
·Patronize him. If you want to get a really good laugh out of the situation, patronize the know-it-all. Sit beside him every chance you get and ask big questions. Hang onto every word he says. Pretend like he’s the best thing in the world. There’s usually nothing the know-it-all hates more than being patronized. Chances are you’ll run him off without too much effort.
Regardless of how you choose to handle your holiday know-it-all, just remember to never attempt to engage in an all-out war of words. Hold your ground and maintain integrity at all times.
The holidays are a stressful time for many people. Having a plan to cope can make the season much more enjoyable. The following links details some great tips on dealing with stress, depression and loneliness:
The holidays can be very stressful because of the feeling that everything has to be done right now. Are you feeling a bit stressed now that the big day is getting close? Stress is the leading cause of many mental and physical ailments, including weight loss and gain, depression and anxiety. Don’t allow the hustle and bustle of the season to ruin your holiday spirit. Remember what the holidays mean to you and focus on that.
When you begin to feel stressed, you should immediately put into practice some stress relief techniques to thwart off any other oncoming symptoms. These are some very easy and practical ways you can start using to help yourself relax.[Close your eyes, draw a deep, cleansing breath in, hold for 5-7 seconds, then slowly exhale. Repeat this ten to twelve times, or as needed.
[Stretch. Stress can cause tense and knotted muscles throughout your body. When you’re feeling tense and anxious, stand up and do a few quick stretches. Simple stretches can help loosen tense muscles super fast and reduce the amount of tension you’re feeling.
[ Meditate. Meditation is helpful in calming your mind, which in turn, calms your body. Simple meditation, like getting quiet and focusing your mind on a central thought, can help you find peace and regain your composure.
Believing in yourself is important because when you truly believe in who you are, you can live the live you desire. The following traits can help you move toward this goal:
ACHIEVE MORE
Think back to a time when there was something you really wanted to do. Maybe you had just chosen your college major. The thrill and excitement of going after a career you adore probably drove you to study and work hard on attaining that degree. Because you believed in yourself, you were able to achieve what you wanted.
BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE
When you believe in yourself, you rarely find excuses to not do what you know you should be doing. You are confident in your abilities, and as such, you choose not to procrastinate. You become wiser with your time and learn how to be creative and constructive with what you are given.
BE MORE FOCUSED
Are you beginning to see a pattern here? When you believe that you are capable of doing something, your mind becomes sharp as a tack. You have extreme mental precision as you set to complete a task. Your thoughts are focused and on target every single time.
GET MORE DONE
Self-belief enables you to achieve more because you are more productive and focused. When you are able to hone in on this personal principle, you will also begin to notice that you are able to get more done. In many cases, you can get a lot more done in a much shorter amount of time, too.
BE PROACTIVE
The absolute best thing about believing in yourself is that you become proactive in your own life. You don’t wait for someone else to validate your thoughts or actions. Instead, you praise yourself for a job well done. You stay busy, working hard towards your goals and dreams.
Dr. Mercola has a great article to help those of us who suffer from dry skin. He gives a list of items that are great moisturizers for the skin. Natural coconut oil is one of the things he mentions as well as taking omega tablets. The winter months can be brutal on the skin if you don’t know what to do about it. Visit his website today to get some great tips to assist you this winter.
Everyone looks forward to new beginnings! A brand new year is an opportunity to reflect on the past and also to look forward to the future. Listed below are some things that will help you to be the best you can be in the upcoming year:
1) Know what you want-The only way you’ll be successful is to know specifically what you want in life.
2) Align yourself with other successful people-You can learn a lot just by surrounding yourself with other successful people.
3) Read about successful people-It will inspire and motivate you to continue on.
4) Practice what you want to become-Act “as if.” The best way to do this is to practice being successful.
5) Hone in on your passion-If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, you will probably never enjoy it.
6) Improve your self-esteem-High self-esteem will give you the confidence you need to keep moving forward, even when it seems like there’s no way to win.
Just tried a new banana muffin recipe from CatCanCook.com and they turned out perfect. I used mostly whole wheat flour, four bananas and a handful of walnuts and the kids loved them. They took them to school for their snack time. The recipe says that they freeze well. I’m looking forward to trying the recipe again and putting in some pecans and chocolate chips.
I love easy recipes that turn out perfect every time! The preparation and clean up time was quick. Visit the site and get a great recipe.
