Have you experienced a family dinner when it seems like the kids are more thankful for their phones than their family? With kids glued to their apps, screens, texts, and videos, we’ve finally reached the modern equivalent of that age-old parenting adage, “Be seen but not heard.” Now our kids are both not seen and not heard. Is that what we want for the dinner table? Is that the family tradition we want to leave them? In our 24/7 world where everything is so convenient, so easy, and … [Read more...]
6 Simple Tips for a Great Family Video Chat
In today’s world, it’s not uncommon to have family all over the globe. Not everyone gets the chance to hop on a plane and travel across the continent – or past entire oceans – to meet and greet the folks more than once or twice a year. For all other times, modern technology has provided us with an amazing piece of technology that’s often used, and just as often misused: video conferencing. Most people are familiar with free “voice over IP” software, or programs that allow you to talk to … [Read more...]
Key Tips For A Stress-Free Family Vacation
Spring break and summer vacation is just around the corner, and many of you might be gearing up for your much-awaited family vacation. From choosing from a list of exciting destinations to setting aside a hefty vacation budget, you’re on top of your game to ensure that you, your spouse and babies enjoy a memorable holiday together. However, let’s face it, when travelling with your little ones, things don’t always turn out as rosy and smooth. Just when you finish tackling your kids’ incessant … [Read more...]
I see a play date in the future! (Great Play Date Idea)
My daughter is loving her new school. She has made, in her words, "BFFs", and she can't wait for school each day. One BFF, in particular, has been asking her to plan a play date. It is often rainy and cold this time of year in Western Washington so the best place to have a play date in this county, in my opinion is Chuck E. Cheese's. We've been to our local Chuck E. Cheese's many times. We even had my Princess' sixth birthday party there. We keep a small stash of Chuck E. Cheese's tokens … [Read more...]
Our Black Friday involved Rudolph!
We have a family tradition of putting up our Christmas tree and in-house Christmas decorations up on the day after Thanksgiving - always in the evening. We listen to Christmas music and drink hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows. My Princess has been counting down all week to do it. This special family night really is a highlight of our entire year. We still use an artificial tree that we've used for the last decade. My awesome hubby, puts the color coated branches in each assigned slot, while … [Read more...]
5 Things Happy Families Do
Somewhere along the lines of 50 hour weeks, carpools, soccer, and the struggle to get out of bed on Sunday to actually spend some free time with my family, I learned that there were five recurring things that most of the happy families I knew were doing together. Part of my New Year's resolution for 2014 was to implement some of these changes into our household, and I have to say - with over half the year being gone - that it was a rousing success. So much of a success that I wanted to share … [Read more...]
Ways to Protect Your Family: Outside the Home
There are some obvious things we think of when it comes to securing our families. Make sure all the doors have deadbolts. Install double paned, double locking windows. Make sure every one in the house has access to a panic button. If you can (and depending on where you live you should), have a security system installed and pay the $30 per month monitoring fee. These are the basics. We shouldn’t need to have to talk about these things anymore. It's not difficult to find home security systems … [Read more...]
