Fathers play an important role when it comes to family stability. It is important for men to understand how their actions affect their children and how important their decisions truly are. First, it is vital for fathers to be present…
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Giving birth to a child does not necessarily send that child to a future duty of financially supporting elderly parents, but it probably should. Today’s children are not yesterday’s children, not by a long shot. Today’s children are more selfish,…
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Just as parents have a duty to take care of their children, I do believe that us children have some obligation to help out our elderly parents, however, financially is not one of them. I currently live with my boyfriend…
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The campaign for Meatless Mondays is growing in popularity. The call to give up meat and opt for more environmentally friendly foods to begin the week is catching on in many schools and homes in Britain and America, as people…
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It isn’t always easy gaining and maintaining a good relationship with your in-laws, but it is almost always worth it. Here are some tips to use right from the start. 1. Set clear boundaries. Every couple has different expectations for…
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Recession? There’s no stinkin’ recession! Though the politicians want us to believe this it is a belief that comes hard for the millions of families out there just trying to get by day to day. When there is barely enough to…
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“You are cordially invited to dinner at Milhalldown Plantation at 8:00 p.m.” My first introduction to my future in-laws was this engraved invitation to a sit-down wedding rehearsal dinner given by my future in-laws for one of their closest friend’s…
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It is kind of comical. In order to protect family time you have to establish family time. Many families do not have that as part of the family structure. Making family time takes a great deal of planning, preparation, and…
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Meatless Monday is a tradition that dates back to the time of the Great War, when families were being urged to donate as much of their supplies as possible to help feed the troops. Families would organize food drives, and…
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For many reasons, it is important to stay in touch with your family while you are traveling. Especially if you are traveling internationally, your parents, grandparents, siblings, and aunts and uncles may wonder what you are up to and if…
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It can be immensely difficult when a relative becomes a prisoner, especially if he/she is a close relative. We often feel embarrassment, shame or fear among other things. All of these emotions are valid to the individual feeling them, though…
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Company arrives and stays for a week at your house. Money is tight. The question is how do you entertain visitors on a summer vacation? The most pertinent question is how do you entertain inexpensively? Dining out can be costly. …
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Mother-In-Law Name one common factor in every married person’s life. A factor strong enough to bring heartache, misery, even divorce, or bring happiness, serenity, and everlasting love, depending on the people involved. The one thing in every couple’s life that…
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“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” Mahatma Gandhi Now here is a man who taught not only a family member or a nation about conflict resolution, but impacted the world for generations to come. Gandhi taught…
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Vacations are supposed to be a time for relaxation, yet for many it isn’t a get away at all. This can happen for several reasons but the most common is family conflict, especially if extended family members are going along….
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When discussing whether or not it is alright for a woman to date her ex-brother-in law, the answer has to be a definite “No!” This is the kind of stuff you would see on a talk-show entitled “My husband is sleeping with…
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Vacationing with in-laws could be an adventure in human behavior. But you may have been blessed, and it could be special to all of you. * Talk about what each of you would like to do on this vacation. *…
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Mothers play an important part in family stability. Each and every decision that they make affects the family as a whole, including the children. With greater understanding of their impact, mothers can make the best decisions when caring for their…
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It can be very aggravating to covet something so bad only to be denied by your parents. It can be anything; a mobile; a laptop; your own car; a separate room; permission to attend a party. Whatever it is, the…
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Love them, hate them but can’t avoid them. Marriage brings together a lot of things, one of them being an additional set of parents. You can either think of them as the “in laws” and keep a safe distance or…
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My mother and my paternal grandmother used to go out for lunch together every week. They would speak on the phone a few times a week, talking usually about us kids and the goings-on in the community, but mostly they…
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Vacationing with your in-laws can be a challenging experience but with the right planning and preparation you can avoid disaster. Here are my 5 top tips for a successful trip. 1) Mutually agree on a vacation destination. There is nothing…
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Oooh, what fertile ground for a string of stand-up comedy jokes. Jeff Foxworthy and his redneck TV pals could do ten hours on this without taking a breath. If Larry the Cable Guy were your in-law, would you want to…
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Getting married is supposed to be an extremely happy event but it can be very stressful when you add having to combine children to the marriage and family. Blending families is a very time consuming and takes a lot of…
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Listen! The reasons, are as obvious as the nose on your face. Children at a young age need to see parents and stepparents getting along. If children hear verbal arguments going on between them both, their everyday lives go from…
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It becomes more and more common these days to have families of all different types. Interracial, same sex, single parents, and of course blended families. In blended families usually the mother and father both have kids from a previous marriage…
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The percentages of traditional or nuclear families which are married couples with or without children are at its lowest ever and the numbers of other forms are on the increase. Amazingly though the number of families with married couples are…
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A blended family may be at a disadvantage if we consider how easily the ties could be severed forever. It has us looking for the emergency exit whenever times are tough. But are the challenges facing blended families necessarily insurmountable?…
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How to cope when your child marries and changes religion? “We” as parents, must cope with whatever religion our son/daughter decides upon when they marry. “Most” young adults start their marriages in their early or late twenties and they are…
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Every year on the Sunday before Christmas we get together at my mom’s house for what we call our “Dysfunctional Family Christmas.” My parents were married for 21 years. Then my father and mother divorced, and my dad married a…
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