Tag Archives: therapy

One Point of View- Part 2

Following on from yesterday’s article here are some more ideas about seeing things from another perspective. Other questions to ask are: 3. Who Can Help? Now what I don’t mean here is sharing your personal life and problems with friends or family. That is rarely helpful and can often make things worse. However a practical way, if you and your spouse need time together to work things out without children around, is to co-opt the help of friends or family to look after the children for a short time. An hour, a day, a weekend, or whatever is needed. You … Continue reading →

Family Meetings

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Family meetings are times for families to come together and discuss issues that affect the household. Topics can be about anything, from school, to chores, to vacation planning. You could also hold meetings just as a way to ensure that your family spends time together on a regular basis, with no agenda to the meetings at all. Family meetings are a great way to promote open discussion between yourself and your children. Children whose families engage in regular family meetings are less likely to get into trouble, abuse drugs or alcohol, develop depression, or have poor self-esteem. Any member of … Continue reading →

Talk to your Profs

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There’s a little known fact about doing well in school. It has nothing to do with studying or re-reading or writing or any of the normal things one might be inclined to do the night before a big test or large assignment. And despite what you might be accused of (schmoozing) or being (“teacher’s pet”) it doesn’t really have anything to do with those terms either. The simple fact is this: talk to your teachers. Today I had the great pleasure of having a reason to speak with my professors. Since we are out of the regular term and prior … Continue reading →

The Curious Case of the Cat in the Shower

Every time anyone enters the bathroom at our house, it’s cause for a big fuss. That’s because no matter what somebody’s doing in there, our cat Cole must have a part of it. If he hears someone in the bathroom, he rushes in (if the door’s open) and starts getting very vocal. Cole isn’t the most vocal of cats, but he’s not the least either. He chirps for attention, and if there’s a bird he can see out in the yard, the whole house knows it. But even when there’s prey he can see just beyond his reach, Cole is … Continue reading →

When Dad-to-Be Is Deployed

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There are currently 98,000 troops in Iraq as of February 28th. How many of those soldiers are expectant dads? How many women in the US are pregnant right now, while the daddy-to-be is across the world, missing every milestone and likely to miss the baby’s birth as well? I’m guessing the figure is pretty large. Pregnancy and childbirth, not to mention raising a newborn, is difficult enough when both parents are present. Adding the pain of missing a loved one and going through all of these events on your own makes it that much harder. In past wars, couples had … Continue reading →

Blaming the Teacher

There is a disturbing trend that is growing. Perhaps it is the absence of proper formation in high schools. Perhaps it is the increased media saturation on television and mobile devices. Perhaps it is a byproduct of the soundbite culture and a loss of the ability to pay attention or pay respect. Any one of these things (and I suspect many others left unmentioned) could contribute to a disturbing trend among young people I’m tentatively calling “blame the teacher.” In many ways this is nothing new. Talk shows have long been riddled with children blaming their parents for their own … Continue reading →

Learn Your Teen’s Love Language

One of my favorite books that I have read more than once is “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. This book talks about the different love languages that we have. They are: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. Most of us enjoy all of these love languages but we tend to especially appreciate one or two more than the others. By reading this book not only do you discover what your primary love language is but you also realize that it’s usually the love language you show toward other people. The problem … Continue reading →

Toddler Speech Evaluations

My son had a speech evaluation this past week. It has been determined that he needs to attend speech therapy twice a week. My cousin attended speech therapy when he was my son’s age. From what I’ve heard, speech therapy is very helpful for late talkers. I was very apprehensive before my son’s evaluation. I didn’t know what to expect. I went to the speech and hearing center, which is on a college campus about fifteen miles from our home. I took my son in and filled out the registration papers. When it was time for us to go back … Continue reading →

Talk to Your Teen About Drinking

Although my almost 16 year old son has no interest in attending dances or the upcoming prom, I have other friends whose teenagers are getting ready for these celebrations. They are busy picking out dresses, talking about who they are going with and what they will do. If I were to guess I would bet that most of my friends will be sending their teens off without taking time to talk about drinking. I don’t say that because they don’t care but I think too often there is an assumption that teens should know better. There may be the false … Continue reading →

The Glue That Holds Marriage Together

Sure love and sex and all those other things we’ve talked about are important but there’s one thing that is vital. Communication- I know it’s something I talk about often in connection with marriage. Communication is vital before marriage and once we are married. It’s really the glue hat keeps a marriage together. If you can’t talk, and really talk, to your marriage partner about anything and everything then it makes for a difficult situation. We all want someone who accepts us as we are and who understands us. That someone should be the person we’re married to. We should … Continue reading →