Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I can really get behind a day of feasting, relaxing and visiting with family and friends, and remembering all the things we have to be thankful for. Gratitude is such an important factor in our lives. Practicing gratitude can relieve stress, lower blood pressure, create contentment, improve our relationships, and even further our career. And here we are, right in the middle of National Gratitude Month. Could there be a more appropriate time to teach our children about gratitude? Unfortunately, it often seems that Thanksgiving is overshadowed by the big commercial push of Read More
Category: family
Seeing the World as Family
Do you see the world as family? Last week, a Facebook memory popped up on my feed. It was something I posted 7 years ago, something my then 5 year-old-son said to me as I drove him home from kindergarten one day. He was talking to me about a family that we often carpooled with and had been friends with for some time. He told me that they were part of our family. I responded “Oh really?” To which he replied, “Yes, because the whole world is our family.” And he was right, the whole world is family, and Read More
Ice Cream Taste Test, Which Flavor is Best?
Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? In honor of this special occasion, my family conducted an ice cream taste test. Sunday afternoon, we broke out 8 different containers of ice cream. Four mint were varieties. Four were chocolate. The brands included were Safeway Select, Baskin Robbins, Haagen Dazs, and Ben & Jerry’s. Only I knew which sample was which. The testing procedure was pretty simple. I set eight bowls on ice cream (one for each flavor) on the kitchen table, and put a numbered sheet of paper with each bowl. Everyone tasted the ice creams and Read More
Happy Father’s Day and Thanks Dad
Years ago, when I was in high school, I was asked to write an essay about someone who was a major influence on me. Someone I looked up to. I worked hard on the assignment. My essay was chosen to be read that year at the senior banquet. I believe I won a small scholarship too. The essay was about my dad. It’s been more than 25 years since I wrote that essay and I can still remember some of the points I made. That’s probably because my dad’s influence was so big and so important that I still feel Read More