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How To Help Loved Ones Embrace Aging Gracefully

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Getting older is just part of life. It comes with its own set of physical, emotional, and social changes. Family and friends have a key role in making this phase as smooth as possible for their loved ones. The trick lies in fostering an attitude that not only accepts but welcomes these changes.

This guide offers handy tips to help the special people in our lives gracefully move through aging’s different phases. From thinking about senior living options to creating a cozy sense of well-being, it’s all about ensuring they feel happy and at ease.

Encourage Open Communication

Starting the journey of aging gracefully with loved ones means talking openly. Initiate chats about how they feel, what scares them, and what they wish for as they get older. It’s important to really hear their worries—like losing independence or feeling lonely—and reassure them that it’s something many go through together.

Encourage sharing thoughts on where to live in the future, healthcare choices, and tweaks in daily life. Keeping up these talks builds a trusty vibe. This makes sure everyone feels listened to and understands why changes can be good.

Promote a Healthy Lifestyle

Staying physically and mentally sharp is key to aging well. It’s great for loved ones to get into good habits. Suggest exercises that fit what they can do, like walking, yoga, or swimming. Moving more helps with staying flexible, cuts stress, and lifts spirits.

Eating right matters, too. Aim for meals full of brain-boosting nutrients that keep the body strong. Also, nudge them towards brain games like puzzles or hobbies that light up their thinking cap. Supporting these healthy routines lets loved ones thrive and feel in charge as they age.

Foster Social Connections

Social ties are crucial for feeling emotionally good, especially during the golden years. It helps if loved ones keep up with old friends or make new ones. They can find like-minded people at community centers, clubs, or online spaces that bring people together over common interests.

Family get-togethers and mixing with different generations also add a fresh spark of joy and insight. Getting involved in social events fights off loneliness, lifts spirits, and keeps the mind sharp. By helping them weave a strong network of connections, they feel more linked-in and appreciated as they age gracefully.

Respect and Honor Their Independence

Keeping independence matters a lot when aging well. It’s important to see and honor loved ones’ need to make their own choices. Stepping in only when really needed lets them keep control over their lives. Talking about options like smaller homes or places designed for easy living helps, too.

Listening to what they want regarding daily life, hobbies, and hanging out with friends is key. Backing up their self-reliance boosts confidence and value within themselves, helping them age proudly. By standing by their side as they navigate getting older, it gives them strength and grace to handle whatever comes next.

Conclusion

Guiding loved ones through aging with grace means keeping the lines of communication open. It’s about encouraging a healthy way of living, nurturing friendships and social ties, and respecting their need to make choices for themselves. 

By being there for them in these ways, they’re better equipped to handle both the ups and downs that come with getting older. This support helps them discover happiness and pride as they move forward on this path.

Originally posted on May 25, 2024 @ 4:13 pm

3 Ways To Get Your Kids To Spend More Time Outside This Summer

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With summer right around the corner for many families with kids, it’s time to start thinking about how your kids are going to be spending their time during this season. 

For most kids, the best thing that they can do in the summer is spend time outside. However, if you’ve had a hard time getting your kids to want to spend time outside in the past, you might be wondering how you could accomplish this this summer.

To help you in figuring this out, here are three ways to get your kids to spend more time outside this summer. 

Give Your Kid A Camera

For many kids, just telling them to go play outside won’t work. Rather, you need to help them find something fun for them to do, and a camera can be just what they need to encourage them to get outside and enjoy themselves. 

Regardless of where you live and what kind of environment you have outside of your house, if you have a camera that you can give your kid to take outside with them and encourage them to take pictures of anything that interests them, they could find themselves exploring tons of things that they may not have looked into before as they seek to take pictures of something cool. Then, when they’re done playing outside with their camera, you can look at the pictures they took together and share this experience with them. 

Do Some Outdoor Cooking

Another fun thing that you can do to encourage your kids to want to spend more time outside is to find fun and interesting ways to incorporate food into your outdoor play. 

If you have a home with an outdoor kitchen, bringing food out into this space to cook and eat together can be something fun that you and your kids or family can share together. Additionally, if you don’t have a full outdoor kitchen that you can prepare and cook food in, you can always make a small, controlled fire in your backyard and do something like cooking smores or hotdogs. 

Find Fun Outdoor Toys

If your kids love having new toys to play with, consider what outdoor toys you could get that would encourage your kids to want to play outside. 

In warmer summer weather, water toys like water balloons or splash pads can be great ways for your kids to want to be outside and enjoy some fresh air and refreshing water. You could also get things like bubbles, sports equipment, outdoor craft projects, and much more. 

If you want this summer to be a time where your kids get to spend a lot of time outside, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find some ways to make this happen.

Originally posted on May 25, 2024 @ 5:12 pm

4 Things To Ask Yourself Before Getting a Family Dog

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Many families find themselves wanting to get a dog for the family. Whether they grew up with one themselves and want to continue the tradition, or their kids have asked and they don’t want to disappoint them, there are a lot of decisions to make when it comes to this new addition to the family.

Some people make the mistake of rushing into buying one right away without considering all of the details first. Then they find themselves stuck in a tricky situation which they weren’t at all prepared for. [Read more…] about 4 Things To Ask Yourself Before Getting a Family Dog

Originally posted on April 22, 2018 @ 12:57 pm

How Can Immigrants Bring Their Family to the U.S.?

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For decades now, the U.S. has attracted millions of people from other countries whether to work, study, live or do business in the land of opportunity. These people include the international students, migrant workers, expatriates as well as families and relatives of U.S. citizens.

U.S. immigrant

It is a fact, though, that a great number of those who have successfully entered the U.S. normally decide become an immigrant. Some who entered illegally are also brave enough to stay longer beyond the expiration of their visas unmindful of the consequences. [Read more…] about How Can Immigrants Bring Their Family to the U.S.?

Originally posted on January 15, 2016 @ 1:20 pm

Family And Recovery- Helping Your Family Help You

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Addicts need all of the help they can get in order to stay clean and sober. It’s easy to backslide back into the drugs and alcohol, even when you’ve been through rehab. You need as many people in your corner as you can get if you want to stay clean.

Senior-And-Family-Meeting

Addicts are always addicts, and those that can’t admit that will be the ones that fall back into their vice the quickest. You need to do more than go to the meetings though, you need to make sure that you are letting your family help you in any way they can. [Read more…] about Family And Recovery- Helping Your Family Help You

Originally posted on January 24, 2016 @ 2:54 pm

Dealing with Monster In-Laws

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grandma panties comic stripClichés and jokes about in-laws abound for a good reason. And whether it’s your side of the family or your spouse’s side that’s making life a little (or a lot) harder, you still need to learn to deal with the matter in a positive manner if you want to set a good example with your kids. Granted that there’s no foolproof formula for dealing with monster in-laws, learning some coping mechanisms will definitely make your life easier and contribute to a happier marriage.

One of the most important steps you need to take is to let go of the negativity. This is easier said than done, but if you are to fix your relationship with your in-laws you have to let go of your negative attitude towards them. Of course, it’s perfectly natural to feel negative emotions when they do something irritating, but you need to be able to control your response so that you can understand the root of the problem and so move forward in a more productive manner. Kids pick up on emotions really well and will develop a negative attitude towards your in-laws if you don’t watch yourself. Even worse, they might end up unable to handle stress and cope with difficult people and issues in a more positive way as they grow.

[Read more…] about Dealing with Monster In-Laws

Originally posted on June 15, 2013 @ 3:24 am

Don’t Panic, It’s Birthday Season 2009!

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kids_birthday_partyAs I’m sure I’ve mentioned before on this blog, the mayhem of my holiday season does not end in January. In our family, after the flurry of gifts, shopping, and get-togethers, we have about a week of peace before the planning and anticipation starts for the three most awaited and celebrated days of the year – my children’s birthdays. We used to get about two weeks break after December, but since little William’s debut last January, the crunch is now even earlier!

So by around January 6th, the Epiphany, after I packed away the Christmas decorations, I started going on panic mode, which I of course didn’t notice but was calmly pointed out by my husband. I had good reason too – THREE birthday parties in a span of 10 days??!! For the past 6 years I had gotten away with doing joint parties for #1 and #2 – obviously the choice of #1 each time, where I snuck in a cake of # 2’s choice (like at the Hannah Montana party last year, #2 had a Mickey and the Beanstalk cake amid the rockstar purple and pink).

So this year, when he told me, very reasonably, that he wanted a Backyardigans party, how could I refuse? Then # 1 pointed out that as she was in a new school and had new friends, she also wanted her own party…..then, my Grandmother also said that little Will’s 1st was in need for a party, however small, for obvious reasons. So yes, it all made sense, and the panic button was pressed, hard. Logistics are the first nightmare as our garden is too small to have a bouncy castle or any kind of wild-running play; then the large expenses involved, and the sheer legwork of putting these things together – games, cakes, lootbags, decorations, entertainment and so on.

In the end I put my hands up in desperation and suggested the following: a tiny party for Wills 1st at home and we head to Disneyland for 4 days of sheer bliss (according to my kids) on the 7th and 8th, #2 and 1#’s birthdays respectively.

Thankfully, hubby agreed! Until next year…..

Photo via Starting Photo Business Ideas

Originally posted on February 3, 2009 @ 4:40 pm

Toys From Childhood

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I get newsletters from a lot of places, and admittedly I mostly just skim through them, only really clicking through if I find something especially interesting – like the other day! In my Fisher Price newsletter was a link to their 50th Anniversary toys, toys from my childhood.

If you grew up with Fisher Price toys like I did, I urge you to visit this page, I honestly got incredibly excited remembering the beloved toys my sister and I once played with for many happy hours. One thing I wasn’t aware of was how the “Little People” toys of today evolved from the ones we played with in the 70’s. My kids have the Christmas sets, which they love playing with, but the characters just don’t have the same appeal. They look too much like cartoons in my opinion (which I admit is completely biased!).

The first “house” I had was this yellow house you see above. I still have it in storage in my Mom’s house but sadly it’s pretty war torn with the pieces all disappeared – boo hoo. Fisher Price now has a “50th Birthday” version, which is just a few “retro” figures in a tin which vaguely looks like the original. A poor substitute, I think! They could have at least made replicas of the original people.

Other favourites which tug at my childhood heartstrings are the Sesame Street “street”, pictured at the top of the post and the airport just above. I could go on, and go the extra mile by actually purchasing these toys on Ebay (tempting, if it weren’t for the exorbitant prices), but for now I’ll just have to be content to look wistfully at these online photos.
For more memory tripping, check out this 1977 Fisher Price catalog, which I think is meant to be a bit of a joke, but for a seventies kid like me, is another lovely walk done memory lane.

Originally posted on April 18, 2009 @ 11:55 pm

Krampus is Coming!

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I don’t know if it’s because of the Christmas excitement – with all the shopping, wrapping, baking and school activities, but my children have become increasingly naughty, and that even includes little Wills, who has been waking up every 1 a.m and refusing to sleep for a full hour.

So in my battle weary Christmas frustration, I was thrilled when my best friend cleverly sent me an email about Krampus, Saint Nick’s devilish companion in Europe, who gets very very naughty children by beating them with sticks, filling their stockings with coal and throwing them in his sack (to be brought where, heavens knows). That night the screaming, wrestling, whining and fighting stopped, so you can guess who was introduced to the family Christmas tradition….

A bit severe? Well, the tradition of Krampus hails from Bavaria, where my Father-in-Law was born and raised, so I can argue that it is part in my children’s family heritage. Now, with the mention of one simple “K” word, my home is no longer a screaming pit of holiday nerves, but a harmonious Chipmunk-Christmas-playing-in-the background abode, that would make Martha Stewart proud. If only Krampus was around all year round…..

The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions the Krampus is represented by an incubus in company of Saint Nicholas. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children (and adults) with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes slight birching by the Krampus, especially of young females.

The present day Krampus costume consists of wooden masks or Larve, sheep’s skin and horns. Considerable effort goes into the manufacture of the hand-crafted masks, as many younger adults in rural communities engage competitively in the Krampus events.

In Oberstdorf, in the southwestern alpine part of Bavaria, the tradition of the “Wilde Mann” (wild man) is kept alive. He is described exactly like Krampus (except the horns), dressed in fur and frightening children (and adults) with rusty chains and bells.

Photo via xmaswithkrampus

Originally posted on December 17, 2008 @ 6:56 am