Marriage is Work

On Real Talk today, the panel discussed marriage instead of parenting and unanimously decided marriage is work! And I added, “It should be.” http://bit.ly/RTmarriageiswork As adults, we put a lot of effort and time into maintaining positive relationships with our friends and extended family. We give large amounts of kind words, thoughtfulness, understanding, and positive affirmation to … Read more

Discipline vs Punishment

On Real Talk today we discussed parent-shaming as a way of disciplining children. Have you seen these attempt to shame kids into behaving properly? Seriously??? What are parents trying to prove with posting their discipline strategies to the world? My point is this … parents need to parent … not befriend their kids. This involves … Read more

Shame on You for Shaming Others

Today on Real Talk, we discussed Parent Shaming which led to all kinds of examples of shaming (breast feeding, disciplining, Pinterest, food, etc.). And yes, we started our discussion by addressing the shaming that takes place on the social media platforms. However, shaming can be a suspect glance, an eye roll, or an unsolicited comment … Read more

Love is in the Air!

The first L.I.F.E. Newsletter of the year when out earlier today. In it, I asked readers to share 4 things they love with me within the comment section of this blog so we can get to know each other better. Love is hopefully about loving others and oneself … then things (but that isn’t easy, is … Read more

Tips on Tipping

Loved this segment on tipping etiquette we did on Atl & Co yesterday. Christine and Cara did great! Watch it and see if you are over or under tipping. Tips on Tipping And if you need more guidelines related to when and where to tip, there are 4 pages in L.I.F.E. – Social Skills to help you … Read more

Teaching Realities of Living Expense

Recently a mother posted on FB that her 5-year old receives $7 a week in allowance and the daughter then has to give her $5 dollars back ($1 for rent $1 for water $1 for electricity $1 for cable, $1 for food, and $2 the daughter keeps to spend or save). This posting has created quite … Read more

Snow Days and Student Learning

  When you live in the south, “snow days” (or should I say “ice days”) bring great joy for teachers, parents and students … at least at first. However, when they are combined with holidays and become repetitive … learning starts to be effective and everyone starts to feel the stress. As a guest on … Read more

Unplug

It’s the holidays and a time to be with family and friends so UNPLUG  and do just that … BE WITH family and friends.  I understand that in some cases. electronic contact is the only way to connect this season with long distances interfering with actually being with those  you love. However, the opportunity to … Read more

Real Talk: Tips for Wedding Guests

  Weddings aren’t like they use to be. Families don’t all live in the same towns, couples have set-up their homes before walking down the aisle and destinations for venues are not always close by. This has led guests to be uncertain about the rules and practices they should apply as an invitee. Here are … Read more

Real Talk: A Nagging Mom is a Plus

Did you have a nagging mom? Are you a nagging mom? Well, according to a recent study at University of Essex in England, being a nagging mom is a good thing (who knew?) The study showed that nagging actually produces more successful adults and less teen pregnancy. Sounds like a great thing to me! What do … Read more