Planning a Family Vacation - How to Include Your Young Children

Planning a Family Vacation - How to Include Your Young Children
By Ruchira Tickoo

Are you thinking about a family vacation? Well this is a thought that finds a resonating affirmation from all family members. However, there is a catch here. The planning needs perfection especially when kids are accompanying otherwise the trip may turn sour. We need to keep a check on food, water, travel time, stoppages, and alternative support for a successful trip.

One thing that needs special attention is kids. You have to engage them beforehand to lighten them up and keep their curiosity alive. This will make the trip memorable and in addition, the entire process starting from planning to the travel and finally the stay will be unforgettable.

Keep your options ready and ask them to pick out their preference.

Planning

You can set off with deciding for the vacation destination. Give them the options and let them chip in some ideas. Show them videos and pictures of the place so they know what the place has to offer for them.

Itinerary

Sit down with the children and give them an idea about the route, duration of the trip, time that they will spend on road. This will prepare them mentally for the outing.

Food

Ensure that the food you take is not only healthy, but interests your child's palate. Let them give their inputs and then you may improve upon them.

Packing

You should help them draw up a list of things they may need. Let them pack their belongings so. Thus, they feel involved in this process. Let them be responsible for the stuff they carry. It will make them feel a part of the travelling troupe.

For the road

Your trip starts from the road. It is fine for adults to sit for long, but children need some activity. Let them be acquainted with the plan. Sit together to pick up music, small games, snacks while you will be on the road.

At the getaway destination

Let them bring along their favorite toys, games, and books so they have several options open. Plan activities and strolls where the entire family participates.

Memoir Book

A foolproof way to bring back the memories captured in pictures and words. You can also help them with collectibles to add to their little travel treasure box

Souvenirs

During the end of the stay, buy little souvenirs for the close ones and friends. This way the trip will remain etched forever as a happy memory.

Each child is different from the other so you need to make little changes to the above points while bearing in mind that whatever destination you opt for is child friendly. Moreover, keep note that there is an alternate plan ready for when things go awry.

A happy journey starts with a well-communicated and connected family.

Like my articles here. Do visit my blog for more on life and relationships. http://pushpsr.blogspot.in/

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Benefits of Giving Thanks

Benefits of Giving Thanks
By Stephen A Bixler

A thankful spirit is a good practice to improve your mind, body, soul, spirit, and relationships. The benefits of thankfulness reflect in many dimensions of life. Let's explore a few of them.

When you ponder the premise of the idea that thankfulness effects your life, what things come to mind? How does it reveal itself?

Some ideas that come to mind for me are:

Thankfulness sets my mind in a place to receive the goodness that is around me. I notice the generosity of God and others. It also helps to reframe the circumstances I am in. It is common for me to ask myself, "What good or positive element can I discover from what is happening?" I then focus on that rather than the frustrating elements that can begin to take me in a downward spiral of thoughts and attitudes.

Thankfulness makes my body feel lighter, and I stand up straighter. For us all, our immune systems are stronger, we're bothered with less aches and pains, and we may even have lower blood pressure.

Thankfulness helps us to have positive emotions and more balanced hormones. It helps with experiencing joy and happiness and having a general contented attitude. One can be more optimistic, alive, and awake.

Thankfulness improves our relationship with our Creator. He created us to enjoy life. As we are thankful, it expresses back to Him our acknowledgement of the goodness He has opened up to us. Most likely, we all have experienced giving a good gift to someone. How your relationship affected with that person doesn't respond? What about if that person responds in an unappreciative manner? Now remember a time when the receiver expressed genuine gratitude. How did that impact your relationship?

Thankfulness improves my relationships. It is much easier to be around a person who is expressing the positive things in life. It is a life-giving time. Time well spent. People who are prone to complain about others, their health, their relationships with others or their circumstances quickly drive others away. It is a draining experience that you soon find ways to avoid.

How do you express your thanks? You can do it verbally. When doing so make it short, clear, appropriate, and genuine. Don't border on flattery or stretching the truth. Another helpful way is to write it down. Many keep a journal. You can keep a journal that records the goodness around you or about a specific person. When you seem overwhelmed in a work situation, home setting, or a relationship, begin a journal and write down one good thing each day about the topic. Check at the end of two weeks on how that situation or relationship has evolved.

Some of the things I'm thankful for are: my family, including my two adorable granddaughters; my relationship with God, my life's work, the country I live in, the country I'm from, the beauty of nature, good health, adequate finances, and many friends. What's on your list?

One way to express thankfulness is in gift gifting. You'll find many ways to say thanks to the cute little girls in your life! You'll enjoy our great discounts and variety. Please visit our website. We'll be thankful for every purchase made. http://www.cutebabygirloutfits.com

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Flowers, And Candy, And The Environment, Oh My - Gift Ideas for an Eco-Friendly Valentine's Day

Flowers, And Candy, And The Environment, Oh My - Gift Ideas for an Eco-Friendly Valentine's Day
By Lynn Lavanga

As I sat down to write an article addressing the environmental impact of Valentine's Day, I first decided to scan the internet for some insight on current reactions surrounding celebrating this day. I am surprised at just how many people are against, and not for environmental considerations, the idea of Valentine's Day. But I feel in the current days of our fast paced lives we take many things for granted and it is important to acknowledge this holiday, using it as a gentle reminder to express to those around you how much you care for and love them. For this day that was first associated with romanticism during the middle-ages, the worldwide tradition of expressions of love have flourished and evolved into environment damaging gift giving practices; presenting pesticide sprayed flowers, offering more than 36 million boxes of chocolates, and sending about one billion Valentine's Day paper greeting cards. My focus then is to encourage everyone to choose ways to celebrate Valentine's Day gift giving that reduces the heavy negative impact this holiday has on our environment. The following suggestions only address three of the many offerings of love and affection made on this day:

Cards: Skip the new $4.00 wood pulp paper card with the generic message that gets tossed in the trash the next day! Opt instead for writing your own declarations of love on recycled paper or up-cycled cards (old messages cut off of course then card fronts can be re-used). If you are poetically challenged you can buy cards made from recycled paper or sustainable fiber paper such as hemp. Paper production ranks among the most resource-intensive and highly polluting of all manufacturing. The process uses a huge amount of water, energy, chemicals, and forest resources, and releases a large amount of toxic chemicals into surrounding water and air. Use of recycled paper pulp significantly reduces the amount of energy, chemicals, and resources in production and also keeps paper out of landfills where, when decomposing, it produces methane a greenhouse gas. Additionally, sustainable resources like hemp used in paper production help to preserve our forests.

Chocolates: Really, what would Valentine's Day be without some chocolate! Chocolate is a favorite worldwide. If giving a Valentine's Day gift of sweets- make it Fair Trade Chocolate. The growing of cocoa used to make chocolate is a very difficult task undertaken by about 6 million small family farms providing 90% of the world's supply. For all their hard work in tropical environments, protecting this fragile crop from sun, wind, disease, and pests, these cocoa farmers live in a poverty income level getting very little from a global market that is very profitable. When we consider the impact on the environment we must think of the natural as well as the people affected. Fair Trade provides sustainability through payment of fair market prices and added premiums to invest in projects so cocoa farmers are better able to provide for themselves and their communities.

Flowers: Mention Valentine's Day gifts and I'm sure the first image that comes to mind is a bouquet of red roses. Don't cut the flowers! Give a recycled paper plant-able card whose message can be relayed and then planted to provide ongoing enjoyment as a beautiful flower spot in the recipient's garden. Or present a beautiful recycled trinket box filled with seeded paper to replant and then the box can be reused to hold special items. It is estimated almost 2.1 billion dollars will be spent on flowers this Valentine's Day. I wonder if this number would decrease if people realized the harsh effects of the cut flower industry. A large number of flowers coming into the USA are from less economically developed countries. Using a large amount of pesticides to grow, the methods are detrimental to the health of workers and also to the environment surrounding the flower plantations. The energy required by air-conditioned trucks to transport the cut blooms is enormous with significant carbon emissions. If a cut flower gift is a must, it is better to look for shops that offer organic and sustainable flowers that are grown locally.

Keeping the focus on the health of the environment and the well-being of mankind, many eco-friendly gift ideas for celebrating Valentine's Day will come to mind. Please share your earth friendly ideas on our Blog, Facebook, or Twitter pages.

Lynn Lavanga is owner of Stylish Organics, an e-commerce boutique combining fashionable styling with eco-friendly thinking. Stylish Organics offers a refreshing collection of earth savvy products selected for their organic, eco-friendly, natural, or sustainable properties. Their one-stop-shopping venue and their collection of products for every member of your family make it easy to live a green lifestyle.

Selected from manufacturers employing green practices, organic clothing; natural skin care; eco-friendly jewelry; recycled paper and plant-able paper cards; sustainable furniture; eco home decor; organic pet treats; and a selection of eco-friendly gifts, are among the products offered by Stylish Organics. Many of the products found at http://www.stylishorganics.com are fair trade or made in the USA.

For additional information visit stylishorganics.com, email: contactus(at)stylishorganics(dot)com, call: 800.581.6417, or subscribe to their Mailing List. (email list is not shared) Read their Blog, like on Facebook or follow on Twitter. All can be reached from their home page.

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A Holiday Survival Guide

A Holiday Survival Guide
By Mitzi Wilson

When I was a teenager I hated the holidays. My parents were divorced when I was 13 and during my teen years neither of them had a partner with whom to share Thanksgiving or Christmas. As a result, one of them was always alone. My mother would cry as we walked out the door to see our father. Our father would stoically maintain that he liked watching movies and eating Chinese food on Christmas. I felt so guilty. Like it was all my fault and that I should be fixing the situation. As a result, I hated the holidays and stopped coming home for them as soon as I was able.

One of the reasons that I never wanted to get divorced was because I didn't want my kids to go through what I did over the holidays. Now I find myself divorced and facing a holiday season where I will be alone and my kids will be with their father, and his new family. Just thinking about it gives me a pit in my stomach. I know, however, that I will get through it. One day at a time.

Here are my tried and true methods for not only surviving the holiday season but thriving...

1. Plan ahead. You know that the holidays are going to be tough. Make a plan. If you are going to be alone make arrangements with someone else to do something. Reach out to family, friends, other single people. Just don't be alone. Unless being alone really will make you happy. Somedays a "Mad Men" binge and my needlepoint really are all that I need.

2. Put the kids first. Make sure that your kids get to spend time with each of their parents during the holidays. It's not their fault that you are divorced and they should be able to enjoy time with both of their parents. WITHOUT guilt. If the thought of them going off makes you want to cry, do so. But not in front of the kids! That's what the dogs are for...

3. Create new family traditions. I know that you and your ex had wonderful holiday traditions that you are missing right about now. Well, miss them and then move on. Make some new holiday traditions for your altered family. If your kids are going off for Thanksgiving dinner make a fabulous Thanksgiving brunch. If you and your spouse always made a Christmas Eve feast consider going out for dinner that night. Maybe with the grandparents and the cousins. Shake things up. But just a little. Too much change can be tough for younger children.

4. Take care of yourself! This is not a time to be a martyr. Do what you need to keep you healthy during the holidays. Exercise, eat right, sleep, indulge (within reason) on favorite holiday treats. My favorite thing to do is to get a massage. A little touch can go a long way.

5. Take it all one day at a time. Try not to project too far ahead. Take one holiday at a time. Projecting too far ahead can take the mind places it doesn't want to go, and doesn't need to go. Are your kids going to be with their father on Christmas morning? Think about the fact that on Christmas night, or the next day, they will be with you. And that Christmas morning will be over. And on Christmas morning you will have a plan (see above) to carry you through.

There is one more thing that I do, when the going gets particularly rough: I give myself a dose of reality. We all tend to romanticize what was, myself no less than others. I think about all of the wonderful, perfect Christmases my ex and I shared. But the reality of it is that they weren't all that wonderful. Now that you are divorced you have the opportunity to have holidays going forward that don't include difficulties of the past. Embrace that and move forward. It's one of the enduring gifts of divorce, the opportunity for new beginnings...

I am a certified life coach specializing in divorce support. I support your journey through divorce so that you can get what you need to emerge healthy and strong into the rest of your new life.

My website is http://www.oracleinclife.com. Come check me out and bring about positive change NOW.

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Cornucopia of Thanks

Cornucopia of Thanks
By Imran Nasir

Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of November. It is a time for families to come together, give thanks for their good fortune, and enjoy home cooked treats all day. The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621, this was the day of harvest before the frost took the crops. In modern times, however, there have been many changes to the menu and the idea of "family".

How It Has Changed

Today, families are still gathering to feast on a delicious, hearty, artery clogging meal. However, the way we are doing it has changed entirely. Instead of being gathered around a table, we sit on couches. Instead of taking time to enjoy a meal, we watch football or have to worry about getting rest for Black Friday shopping. Anymore, it is coming a completion about who can have the biggest, prettiest meal on the table, when that is not at all how it is supposed to be. Corporations are opening earlier and earlier for Black Friday shoppers. While that is not bad, it is cutting the time the employees have with their family. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, anymore; it is becoming a commercialized holiday. We focus too much on material gain; it is time to go back to having family time.

What You Can Do

No matter who you are, or how old you are, you have some say in the way holidays are at your home. Set an example by sitting at the kitchen table. Your family will not want you to sit alone; they may come to be with you, hence getting everyone to sit around the table. Perhaps the TV can be turned off until after the meal has been completed. Watch during dessert, but try to bond with your family beforehand. You can also start a conversation, during the meal, about what you are thankful for. Try not to bring material objects into that conversation, you are trying to go a bit deeper. Family, friends, health, and prosperity are all good things to be thankful for.

With a bit of conscious effort, you can a very fulfilling holiday with your family. While you can still enjoy the material things in your life, always take time to appreciate the world around you. There is so much that can be learned from your elders, if you were to only as them about their life. Thanksgiving is the perfect time for families to reconnect. Do whatever you can to spend time with your family before the magic of holidays are lost.

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