Family projects are natural in the spring, because that’s when Mother Nature shows the way by bringing out the new green on trees and colors of flowers. Your family can catch the mood of the season  by creating your own…
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Getting along with every single member of your family is not easy. One of the most common obstacles getting in the way is lack of trust. If a family member does not trust you at all, or does not trust…
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How to cope when your mother is an alcoholic  A young child having to cope with a mother who is an alcoholic is too much too ask of a child who is supposed to be taken care of by his…
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Abuse in a family is frequently hidden in a closet. Oftentimes, those outside the family’s four walls are totally unaware of it. Meanwhile, abuse slowly sucks enthusiasm and happiness from each member’s life. Generally abuse is carried from generation to…
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How would you define a healthy relationship with your children? To most parents this is defined by how well we are able to communicate with them, how comfortable our child feels talking to us and the trust and respect we…
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If you want to know what the effects of having an alcoholic parent are then I will tell you. It’s not easy. Actually it was very difficult being the child of an alcoholic. When I was a little girl, I…
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When loosing a close relationship with a teen, it can make a parent feel like they have lost their best friend. Another similarity is feeling like you have a roommate instead of the warm and close camaraderie of sharing in…
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Apparently this is one of the coldest winters on record, at least in Northern Ireland, the small squiggle on the globe that this writer hails from.  Government councils were completely caught off guard when the first blustering blizzard blanketed the…
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Help with the emotions around the holidays typically focuses on the “Holiday Blues”, but there is very little press regarding the tension and conflicts that erupt during this time of year.  Relationships are like the proverbial canary in the mine…
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Tips for learning better family communication skills are important in order for a family to stay in tune with each other. When a child or teenager says he will “be back later”, to a parent it could mean in an…
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While Christmas is meant to be a joyful time, family tensions are often high during this holiday. There is a lot of pressure, after all. Parents feel pressure to give the right gifts to their kids. Family dynamics flare up…
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No woman is every prepared to become the single mother with three kids. Nothing tears apart a woman harder than having to raise children by herself. Although this lesson makes women stronger it sends a bad message to our boys….
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Family estrangement is painful. Sometimes it is puzzling. It can hold tons of anger. What it often all boils down to is misunderstanding and miscommunication. When we think back to the various family estrangements of which we are aware, there…
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We all like the idea of having control over our environment and what happens to us. But when we speak of someone being controlling in their relationships, we are talking about a person who tries to restrict their loved ones’…
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The 2009 Holiday Season has just ended and family dysfunction continues to overshadow many of our lives. It is a shame, isn’t it? To walk into your mother’s kitchen, hug her, and know you would rather be elsewhere. Additionally, your…
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When I think of judgmental family members, I immediately think of mom. Not just my mom, though she can be judgmental, but I mean the archetypal “MOM.” Something happens to a woman when she becomes a mother. She can’t help…
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Lies create barriers. They instantly separate people into an inner circle which knows the truth and those left outside its walls. The effects of lying are especially damaging when these lines are drawn through a family or between a family…
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When relatives have a falling out, the rest of the family can suffer. Perhaps the argument was so bad that the family members don’t speak anymore and are not close. This can worsen the strain on the entire family and…
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